Wake Forest baseball is playing small ball…?

The top of the second inning Florida and TCU, an elimination game. If you are TCU, it's not an elimination game for the Florida Gators. If they win, Florida heads to the championship series next week.

And if Wake Forest defeats LSU tonight, they do the same. Aaron Fitt, co-editor d1baseball.com, great clubhouse guy, is on the ground in Omaha for the College World Series. Surprisingly low scoring, no? Yeah, I mean it's been a very offensive year in college baseball, Adam, but this place when the wind is blowing in, it's just it just crushes offense, you know, and that's how it's been. It's been howling in from center field all week. I think we saw one homer yesterday, Dylan Cruz from LSU went oppo. It took a mighty poke to get that ball out of here because basically we've seen balls just crushed and just die up in the gaps. It's like 2012 all over again.

It's like the old Astrodome for those people who remember when you just could not hit the ball out of that ballpark at all. Aaron Fitt, d1baseball.com, is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. Wake will play later on tonight against LSU, a game you can hear on the fan if you're listening in Raleigh. So, Wake wins a pair of games 3-2. Look, we shouldn't be that surprised because they are one of the best, if not the best, pitching team in the country anyway, so they can win games 3-2. But the way they won their second game, I mean a couple of walks, a double play brought in a run, or not just a couple of walks, several walks, then a double play. Super small ball is how they got their three runs.

Yeah, you're right, and that's kind of how you have to do it out here. Honestly, this park, you would think on its surface plays about the opposite of Wake Forest Park, right? As we all know, it's a launching pad in Winston-Salem, and they had nine home runs in the Super Regional Quincher. It's a home run hitting team, but the reason I thought their style of play would translate out here is because they are the best pitching staff in the country by a wide margin.

As we've talked about, they led the country in the R.A., almost a full run. I mean, it's absurd what they did, and that's just the pitching travels. So, their offense has not really been locked in out here. They really had to grind and kind of scrap out a couple of wins that they...

They didn't leave either of those games until the finals, and they just find ways to win because they have played good enough defense. They've pushed it great, and just enough offensively, but it'll be interesting to see if they can get the bats going a bit more today. All right, I'm going to ask you a question here about one Florida player in a second, but when you get to this point in the tournament, you're down to maybe a third starter or a bullpen game. Where is Wake with their starting pitching after playing games, after already playing two games?

Yeah, they're sitting really pretty. I mean, because again, they're just so deep on the mound. You've already used Louder and Hardle, a couple of all-American kind of guys in their rotation, but now you've got Seth Keener and Sean Sullivan, both of whom have had great success either as starters or as leavers as needed this year. Lately, they've kind of moved Sullivan to the bullpen, and he's been a force back there, but he can definitely start if they need him to, or give them an extended relief outing should Keener get knocked out.

But I mean, both these guys are high-end guys. Keener, it's 96 with an elite slider and a good change up. He might be a third round pick. Sullivan could be a second round pick, a lefty who was kind of elite riding life on his fastball. So they're just set up perfectly right now, and the bullpen's still in great shape. They got the best bullpen in the world also, and all three of their big bullpen weapons in addition to Sullivan are all rested and ready.

So they're set up perfectly. Aaron Fitt, D1Baseball.com is joining us here. It said I was going to ask you about one Florida player, and I will get into it with Shohei Otani pitches for the Angels tonight, and he is one of the best pitchers and one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. I can't wait to see what his contract ultimately is with the Yankees or with the Mets.

Who knows? But he is going to ultimately end up there, maybe even the Dodgers. But Florida has a similar player at the college level.

Tell us who he is and explain how good he is. Who else loves summer but gets a little overwhelmed by all the plans? Daily Harvest helps me conquer the morning and kick off my day with intention through nourishing and delicious food, all delivered to your door. Daily Harvest is the easiest way to get your daily serving of sustainably sourced fruits and vegetables without the shopping, shopping, and post-cooking cleanup.

Go to DailyHarvest.com right now, enter promo code Harvest, and get up to $65 off your first order. Their strawberry and peach smoothie or apple and cinnamon oat bowl are the perfect addition to my morning routine. They also have tons of options for any time of day like flatbreads, harvest bowls, and bites. We all deserve easy mornings. Let Daily Harvest give you one less thing to worry about.

So don't wait. Order your meals now at DailyHarvest.com. Enter promo code Harvest for up to $65 off your first order.

That's DailyHarvest.com promo code Harvest for up to $65 off. There's nothing like kicking back, tearing open a bag of M&Ms, and hanging with a friend. Now that's a good time. Whether you're at the movies, on a beach, or stuck in traffic, there are so many kinds of M&Ms to enjoy. Milk chocolate, peanut, peanut butter minis, and many more.

It's the iconic candy that's all about bringing people together to bond over colorful bite-sized chocolate candies, delicious flavors, and something else we all have in common, fun M&Ms for all fun kind. Yeah, they call them Jack Tawny. I think Cagliotawny is also acceptable. Jack Cagliotawny we're talking about, he's a left-handed hitting power hitter, leads the country with 31 home runs to Florida. But also, I mean, it's elite stuff from the left side on the mound.

I mean, you'll see 98 miles an hour with, you know, feel for three real good secondary pitches. Now, he hasn't been as effective as a pitcher as he has been as a hitter, because he walks some. You know, that's kind of a knock on him.

His command isn't sharp. And these are some times we hit short outings this year, but I've also seen him at his very best, and it's certainly truly elite. And so, I don't think there's ever been that I've seen a college baseball player with as much raw talent as both a hitter and a pitcher. I mean, there have been some great two-way players, Brandon McKay, De'Asia Reid, National Players of the Year, Will Craig from Wake Forest.

But as far as pure talent on both sides, he's the closest thing I've ever seen to a Tawny. Yeah, Brandon McKay, who played at Louisville, was a great pitcher and a great hitter. I honestly don't know how well he is doing. I know he's not doing both on a regular basis in the big leagues, but I know he was dominant at Louisville. I read some quotes from this kid who said that, you know, my plan is to do both, to pitch and hit as a big leaguer, unless I am told otherwise.

Because obviously, if somebody's paying you, they have the right to tell you otherwise. What's your sense on whether or not he can do both? Yeah, he seems like the, you know, like I said, just because of the rarity of his talent, he's got a real chance to do it.

You know, and Brandon McKay, they drafted him with the intention of letting him do both. It didn't stick. It's just hard to do. You know, that's why a Tawny is such a freak. But this guy, I just think that the level of the tools is so exceptional that you kind of have to write it out.

Jack Tawny. You want to guess at what showing a Tawny's contract would be when he becomes a free agent in, what, a year? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. We're talking $400 million more. I mean, I don't know. The scope of this thing is just unprecedented.

It's really going to be fascinating. We have two guys who make in the 40s yearly, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. I have to think that a Tawny's contract is going to be close to $50 million.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, because even if, you know, it's one thing for a pitcher, maybe you're scared to give him a long-term deal, but this guy, if he gets hurt as a pitcher, you still have the value of the position player. So it's like, there's such a high floor. He's such a tremendous athlete as well. His game is so, he's literally, he's everything.

He has two positions and these two plus players at both positions. He is amazing. I don't know if he's a great clubhouse guy. I know you are.

Aaron Fitt at d1 baseball.com at Aaron fit on Twitter. Uh, we could have a problem with LSU tonight. They could. I mean, LSU is really good. The only two teams in the country that have been number one in the rankings all year long, LSU was number one for about 12 weeks and they forced the number one ever since. So there's a reason, I mean, LSU has a elite talent, uh, and, and they're, they're very good, but I like Wake Forest. I just think their pitching is just set up better and it's better period, but it doesn't mean, you know, they're unbeatable. They clearly, they are, they had to scrape out a couple of wins out here. So that's why it's baseball. I don't know. It's fun to watch. You never know what's going to happen. No question about that. All right, Aaron, I'll talk to you later. I appreciate your time. You got it, my friend, Aaron, Aaron fit D one baseball.com.